Ezekiel 21-22

Babylon as God’s Sword of Judgment

21 [a]The word of the Lord came to me:2 “Son of man, set your face against Jerusalem and preach against the sanctuary. Prophesy against the land of Israel3 and say to her: ‘This is what the Lord says: I am against you. I will draw my sword from its sheath and cut off from you both the righteous and the wicked.4 Because I am going to cut off the righteous and the wicked, my sword will be unsheathed against everyone from south to north.5 Then all people will know that I the Lord have drawn my sword from its sheath; it will not return again.’

6 “Therefore groan, son of man! Groan before them with broken heart and bitter grief.7 And when they ask you, ‘Why are you groaning?’ you shall say, ‘Because of the news that is coming. Every heart will melt with fear and every hand go limp; every spirit will become faint and every leg will be wet with urine.’ It is coming! It will surely take place, declares the Sovereign Lord.”

8 The word of the Lord came to me:9 “Son of man, prophesy and say, ‘This is what the Lord says:

“‘A sword, a sword,sharpened and polished—10 sharpened for the slaughter,polished to flash like lightning!

“‘Shall we rejoice in the scepter of my royal son? The sword despises every such stick.

11 “‘The sword is appointed to be polished,to be grasped with the hand;it is sharpened and polished,made ready for the hand of the slayer.12 Cry out and wail, son of man,for it is against my people;it is against all the princes of Israel.They are thrown to the swordalong with my people.Therefore beat your breast.

13 “‘Testing will surely come. And what if even the scepter, which the sword despises, does not continue? declares the Sovereign Lord.’

14 “So then, son of man, prophesyand strike your hands together.Let the sword strike twice,even three times.It is a sword for slaughter—a sword for great slaughter,closing in on them from every side.15 So that hearts may melt with fearand the fallen be many,I have stationed the sword for slaughter[b]at all their gates.Look! It is forged to strike like lightning,it is grasped for slaughter.16 Slash to the right, you sword,then to the left,wherever your blade is turned.17 I too will strike my hands together,and my wrath will subside.I the Lord have spoken.”

18 The word of the Lord came to me:19 “Son of man, mark out two roads for the sword of the king of Babylon to take, both starting from the same country. Make a signpost where the road branches off to the city.20 Mark out one road for the sword to come against Rabbah of the Ammonites and another against Judah and fortified Jerusalem.21 For the king of Babylon will stop at the fork in the road, at the junction of the two roads, to seek an omen: He will cast lots with arrows, he will consult his idols, he will examine the liver.22 Into his right hand will come the lot for Jerusalem, where he is to set up battering rams, to give the command to slaughter, to sound the battle cry, to set battering rams against the gates, to build a ramp and to erect siege works.23 It will seem like a false omen to those who have sworn allegiance to him, but he will remind them of their guilt and take them captive.

24 “Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: ‘Because you people have brought to mind your guilt by your open rebellion, revealing your sins in all that you do—because you have done this, you will be taken captive.

25 “‘You profane and wicked prince of Israel, whose day has come, whose time of punishment has reached its climax,26 this is what the Sovereign Lord says: Take off the turban, remove the crown. It will not be as it was: The lowly will be exalted and the exalted will be brought low.27 A ruin! A ruin! I will make it a ruin! The crown will not be restored until he to whom it rightfully belongs shall come; to him I will give it.’

28 “And you, son of man, prophesy and say, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says about the Ammonites and their insults:

“‘A sword, a sword,drawn for the slaughter,polished to consumeand to flash like lightning!29 Despite false visions concerning youand lying divinations about you,it will be laid on the necksof the wicked who are to be slain,whose day has come,whose time of punishment has reached its climax.

30 “‘Let the sword return to its sheath.In the place where you were created,in the land of your ancestry,I will judge you.31 I will pour out my wrath on youand breathe out my fiery anger against you;I will deliver you into the hands of brutal men,men skilled in destruction.32 You will be fuel for the fire,your blood will be shed in your land,you will be remembered no more;for I the Lord have spoken.’”

Judgment on Jerusalem’s Sins

22 The word of the Lord came to me:

2 “Son of man, will you judge her? Will you judge this city of bloodshed? Then confront her with all her detestable practices3 and say: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: You city that brings on herself doom by shedding blood in her midst and defiles herself by making idols,4 you have become guilty because of the blood you have shed and have become defiled by the idols you have made. You have brought your days to a close, and the end of your years has come. Therefore I will make you an object of scorn to the nations and a laughingstock to all the countries.5 Those who are near and those who are far away will mock you, you infamous city, full of turmoil.

6 “‘See how each of the princes of Israel who are in you uses his power to shed blood.7 In you they have treated father and mother with contempt; in you they have oppressed the foreigner and mistreated the fatherless and the widow.8 You have despised my holy things and desecrated my Sabbaths.9 In you are slanderers who are bent on shedding blood; in you are those who eat at the mountain shrines and commit lewd acts.10 In you are those who dishonor their father’s bed; in you are those who violate women during their period, when they are ceremonially unclean.11 In you one man commits a detestable offense with his neighbor’s wife, another shamefully defiles his daughter-in-law, and another violates his sister, his own father’s daughter.12 In you are people who accept bribes to shed blood; you take interest and make a profit from the poor. You extort unjust gain from your neighbors. And you have forgotten me, declares the Sovereign Lord.

13 “‘I will surely strike my hands together at the unjust gain you have made and at the blood you have shed in your midst.14 Will your courage endure or your hands be strong in the day I deal with you? I the Lord have spoken, and I will do it.15 I will disperse you among the nations and scatter you through the countries; and I will put an end to your uncleanness.16 When you have been defiled[c] in the eyes of the nations, you will know that I am the Lord.’”

17 Then the word of the Lord came to me:18 “Son of man, the people of Israel have become dross to me; all of them are the copper, tin, iron and lead left inside a furnace. They are but the dross of silver.19 Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: ‘Because you have all become dross, I will gather you into Jerusalem.20 As silver, copper, iron, lead and tin are gathered into a furnace to be melted with a fiery blast, so will I gather you in my anger and my wrath and put you inside the city and melt you.21 I will gather you and I will blow on you with my fiery wrath, and you will be melted inside her.22 As silver is melted in a furnace, so you will be melted inside her, and you will know that I the Lord have poured out my wrath on you.’”

23 Again the word of the Lord came to me:24 “Son of man, say to the land, ‘You are a land that has not been cleansed or rained on in the day of wrath.’25 There is a conspiracy of her princes[d] within her like a roaring lion tearing its prey; they devour people, take treasures and precious things and make many widows within her.26 Her priests do violence to my law and profane my holy things; they do not distinguish between the holy and the common; they teach that there is no difference between the unclean and the clean; and they shut their eyes to the keeping of my Sabbaths, so that I am profaned among them.27 Her officials within her are like wolves tearing their prey; they shed blood and kill people to make unjust gain.28 Her prophets whitewash these deeds for them by false visions and lying divinations. They say, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says’—when the Lord has not spoken.29 The people of the land practice extortion and commit robbery; they oppress the poor and needy and mistreat the foreigner, denying them justice.

30 “I looked for someone among them who would build up the wall and stand before me in the gap on behalf of the land so I would not have to destroy it, but I found no one.31 So I will pour out my wrath on them and consume them with my fiery anger, bringing down on their own heads all they have done, declares the Sovereign Lord.”

Hebrews 10:1-17

Christ’s Sacrifice Once for All

10 The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming—not the realities themselves. For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship.2 Otherwise, would they not have stopped being offered? For the worshipers would have been cleansed once for all, and would no longer have felt guilty for their sins.3 But those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins.4 It is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.

5 Therefore, when Christ came into the world, he said:

“Sacrifice and offering you did not desire,but a body you prepared for me;6 with burnt offerings and sin offeringsyou were not pleased.7 Then I said, ‘Here I am—it is written about me in the scroll—I have come to do your will, my God.’”[a]

8 First he said, “Sacrifices and offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not desire, nor were you pleased with them”—though they were offered in accordance with the law.9 Then he said, “Here I am, I have come to do your will.” He sets aside the first to establish the second.10 And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

11 Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins.12 But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God,13 and since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool.14 For by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.

15 The Holy Spirit also testifies to us about this. First he says:

16 “This is the covenant I will make with themafter that time, says the Lord.I will put my laws in their hearts,and I will write them on their minds.”[b]

Psalm 108

A song. A psalm of David.

1 My heart, O God, is steadfast;I will sing and make music with all my soul.2 Awake, harp and lyre!I will awaken the dawn.3 I will praise you, Lord, among the nations;I will sing of you among the peoples.4 For great is your love, higher than the heavens;your faithfulness reaches to the skies.5 Be exalted, O God, above the heavens;let your glory be over all the earth.

6 Save us and help us with your right hand,that those you love may be delivered.7 God has spoken from his sanctuary:“In triumph I will parcel out Shechemand measure off the Valley of Sukkoth.8 Gilead is mine, Manasseh is mine;Ephraim is my helmet,Judah is my scepter.9 Moab is my washbasin,on Edom I toss my sandal;over Philistia I shout in triumph.”

10 Who will bring me to the fortified city?Who will lead me to Edom?11 Is it not you, God, you who have rejected usand no longer go out with our armies?12 Give us aid against the enemy,for human help is worthless.13 With God we will gain the victory,and he will trample down our enemies.